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JOHN MARSHALL 

AND HIS HOME 

BY 

MARY NEWTON STANARD 



r\m r^B w m •»■ 



PUBLISHED BY THE 

Association for the Preservation of 
Virginia Antiquities. 

FOR SALE AT THE 

JOHN MARSHALL HOUSE, 

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
Price Fifty Cents 




JOHN MARSHALL 
From the Inman portrait 



JOHN MARSHALL 



AN ADDRESS 

BY 

MARY NEWTON STANARD 

READ BEFORE THE 

ASSOCIATION FOR THE PRESERVATION 
OF VIRGINIA ANTIQUITIES 

AT THE 

Opening- of the John Marshall House, March 27, 1913 



TOGETHER WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE 
HOUSE AND ITS CONTENTS 



RICHMOND 

WM. ELLIS JONES' SONS, INC., PRINTERS 
I913 



.& 



AfisociatioB 

MAH 1 1315 




OFFICERS. 



Mrs. 
Mrs. 

Mrs. 
Mrs. 
Miss 
Mrs. 
Mrs. 
Mrs. 



J. TAYLOR ELLYSON, 
EDWARD V. VALENTINE, 
WILLIAM RUFFIN COX, 
CHARLES B. BALL, - 



President. 

First Vice-President. 
Second Vice-President. 
Third Vice-President. 



SALLY ARCHER ANDERSON, Recording Secretary. 
J. ENDERS ROBINSON, - Corresponding Secretary. 
WILLIAM C. BENTLEY, - Treasurer, 
WILLIAM G. STANARD, - Historian. 



JOHN MARSHALL HOUSE COMMITTEE. 

Mrs. Walter Christian, Chairman. 
Mrs. Edward V. Valentine, Mrs. Christopher Tompkins, 

Mrs. William Ruffin Cox, Miss Emily Harvie, 

Mrs. William G. Stanard, Miss Ellen Wade, 

Mrs. J. Caskie Cabell, Miss Betty Ellyson. 



OPENING-DAY RECEPTION COMMITTEE. 

Mrs. Granville G. Valentine, Mrs. Charles E. Bolling, 

Mrs. Junius B. Mosby. 



JOHN MARSHALL 



Upon Thursday afternoon, March the twenty-seventh, 
nineteen hundred and thirteen, the home of Chief Justice John 
Marshall, in Richmond, Va., which had been given by the city 
of Richmond to the Association for the Preservation of Vir- 
ginia Antiquities, to be perserved as a perpetual memorial, was 
formally opened to the public. The guests were received by the 
President of the Association assisted by the officers and Board 
and the John Marshall House and Reception Committees. 

Judge James Keith, President of the Court of Appeals of 
Virginia, and a kinsman of Chief Justice Marshall, presided 
over the exercises. In few but choice words he paid fitting 
tribute to the life and character of the great Chief Justice and 
then introduced Mrs. William G. Stanard, the Historian of the 
Association, who read the following 

Address 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

It seems hard upon Westmoreland, the county of the Wash- 
ingtons and Lees, that John Marshall was not born in it. His 
father, Thomas Marshall, was born there, at "The Forest," 
and went to school with George Washington at the "Classical 
Academy," in the neighborhood, taught by Mr. Campbell, who, 
by the way, was an uncle of the English poet, Thomas Camp- 
bell. 

Later on, Thomas Marshall, like Washington, was employed 
as a surveyor of the great estates of Lord Fairfax. In the 
upper country he met, loved and married beautiful Mary 
Isham Keith, daughter of a Scotch parson of what is now 



6 JOHN MARSHALL 

Fauquier county, and on her mother's side a descendant of 
WiUiam Randolph, of "Turkey Island," and cousin of Thomas 
Jefferson. And so, as he made her country his country, 
Thomas Marshall and his famous son were lost to the county 
of the Washingtons and the Lees. 

He and his bride planted their first roof-tree at German- 
town, in Fauquier, but later moved higher up the county near 
the Blue Ridge, and set up a second on a farm which they 
named "Oakhill." They served their country loyally in the 
good old Virginia fashion by adding to its sparse population 
fifteen little Marshalls. Sturdy little Marshalls they must have 
been, for in spite of blissful unconsciousness of the existence 
of germs, in spite of the hardships of frontier life, all fifteen 
grew up. 

The eldest of them and the most liberally endowed by 
nature, was a son, John. He was born, on September 24, 
1755, in the earlier nest, which has long since disappeared; 
"Oakhill," enlarged and improved, still stands, and claims our 
interest as the home in which he was bred. It was no stately 
mansion, but a typical Colonial Virginia frontier home. Colon- 
ial Virginia had her mansions, of course, and some of her 
illustrious sons were bred in them ; but they were the ex- 
ceptions. More numerous, more typical, were the simple farm 
houses where a larger number grew great in soul and mind 
as they grew in stature. 

John Marshall was exceptional, but "Oakhill" was the aver- 
age home of the time and place. It is worth while to call 
to mind a picture of this house and its surroundings, for here 
the structure of that strong, simple, brilliant personality we 
classify as John Marshall quietly had its building. 

A modest frame cottage was "Oakhill," scantily supplied 
with every luxury, save children. There were only the neces- 
sary pieces of furniture, we may be sure, and if some of 
them were mahogany, others were home-made of home-grown 
timbers. The walls were innocent of decoration save white- 
wash, the floors for the most part bajre. If there were bed 
and window curtains some of them may have been white, others 




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JOHNMARSHALL / 

were certainly calico, gay with shawl figures or other old- 
fashioned designs, for satisfaction in homely comfort had not 
then given way to competitive exhibitions of house decoration. 

Calico, linsey-woolsey and homespun played a large and 
proud part in the family clothing; though there were best 
suits for Sundays and State occasions of finer stuffs. Mary 
Keith Marshall, mother of the fifteen, even had a gown of 
skyblue brocade. Whether it was the one in which she cap- 
tivated Thomas Marshall, of Westmoreland, or a part of her 
trousseau as a bride, or whether she acquired it later on, to 
wear in Richmond while on a visit to son John, we do not 
know. But she owned such a gown, for the Association for 
the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities has a piece of it. 

Scare as luxuries were there were books — English classics 
whose presence would place the hall-mark of culture upon 
more ambitious homes today. And bare as it seems, "Oak- 
hill" was not a home of want. It was surrounded by rich 
fields, tilled by slave labor, and it was situated on high ground 
overlooking charming scenery. Field and stream and moun- 
tain afforded physical exercise and communion with nature to 
the growing youth surfeited with reading or wearied of the 
chatter in the crowded cottage. For John Marshall, boy and 
man, was exceptional, among other ways in this, that he had 
a passion for both mental and physical exercises — for books 
and country tramps, meditation and athletics. He was like 
Richmond's other world famous citizen, Edgar Poe, in this, 
if in naught else. No doubt these diverse tastes acted happily 
upon each other in the development of his character. 

At "Oakhill" he had a bracing climate, as well as all out- 
doors in which to run and tramp and fish and hunt and play 
the games of boys of his time. He had the companionship 
and guidance of educated parents and of a capable tutor. Rev. 
James Thompson, rector of the parish, who lived at "Oak- 
hill" and taught the Marshall boys. Under such influences 
John early developed his love of books. At twelve he knew 
much Pope by heart, and was familiar with Dryden, Shakes- 
peare and Milton. At fourteen he was sent for one year to 



O JOHN MARSHALL 

Westmoreland to the "Classical Academy" where his father 
and Washington had gone (and where he himself had Monroe 
for a schoolmate) and afterward resumed the study of Latin 
with his old tutor with whom he had read Horace and Livy. 
When he was eighteen the first American edition of Black- 
stone made its appearance, and among the subscribers was 
Captain Thomas Marshall. With the addition of this book 
to the bit of library at "Oakhill," began John's interest in the 
study of law. 

But Blackstone soon had a too formidable rival for even so 
legal a mind as that of John Marshall. There were rumors 
of war for independence, and patriotism and dreams of mili- 
tary glory fired the soul of the boy. At the sound of the 
first alarum father and son entered the army — Thomas as ma- 
jor, John as lieutenant in a company of volunteers. 

A contemporary has left us a pleasant picture of young 
John setting forth from "Oakhill" for a tramp of ten miles 
over hill and dale to the musterfield on which his company was 
to assemble. See him, as he swings along, with brisk, eager 
step and expectant eye. He is six feet tall, as yet slender as 
youths that have shot up rapidly are apt to be, and straight, 
but a bit gawky. His complexion is a healthy brown. His 
hair is thick and black, his brow straight and rather low, but 
well developed about the temples ; his eyes not large, but 
dark, strong, penetrating and beaming with intelligence and 
humor. His face is round and features strong and at the 
same time amiable. He wears a hunting shirt of purplish blue 
homespun and baggy knee-trousers of the same material, brave 
with white fringe. His stockings are of blue homespun yarn, 
knitted by his mother, and his shoes, made doubtless by a 
black shoemaker, are stout and serviceable, we may depend. 
He has stuck a buck's tail — trophy of his last day's hunting — 
in his round, black hat for a cockade. 

Thus John Marshall, aged nineteen, went a-soldiering across 
the greening Fauquier hills on a spring morning of 1775. Just 
an overgrown country boy, keen for trying his strength in the 
world, but having about him something — call it charm, call 



JOHN MARSHALL W 

it force, call it individuality, call it genius, call it what you 
will, but something that marks him as different — that com- 
pels attention. He found a little band of country boys eager, 
like himself, for the adventures of war, and anxious for in- 
struction ; for they had seen no newspapers and knew little 
of the war-cloud beyond vague and conflicting rumors. Im- 
agine their disappointment when no captain put in appearance ! 

Young John came to the rescue. Mounting a stump, he 
made his maiden speech. He told the boys he had been ap- 
pointed lieutenant instead of a better. He had come to meet 
them as fellow soldiers likely to be called on to defend their 
country's and their own rights and liberties, invaded by the 
British. He told them of a battle in Lexington, in Massa- 
chusetts, in which the /Americans had been victorious, but 
more fighting was expected. Soldiers were called for and 
it was time to brighten up their firearms and learn to use 
them in the field. He said he would show them the new 
manual exercise, for which purpose he had brought his gun. 
He illustrated by bringing the gun to his shoulder. The ser- 
geants then put the men in line and the young lieutenant pre- 
sented himself in front, to the right. He had been studying 
and practicing rifle-drill at home ever since the war-talk began. 
He now went through it by word and motion before requiring 
the men to imitate him and then drilled them "with the most 
perfect temper" for as long as he thought proper for a first 
lesson. This over, he told them that if they wished to hear 
more of the war, and would form a circle around him, he 
would tell them all he knew. 

The circle formed, he addressed them for an hour, closing 
with the announcement that a minute battalion was about to 
be raised and that he was going in it and expected to be joined 
by many of his hearers. He then challenged an acquaintance 
to a game of quoits and closed the day with foot-races and 
other athletic sports before walking the ten miles back to 
"Oakhill," where he arrived a little after sunset. 

This glimpse of the boy soldier-orator is more than pictur- 
esque — it is important. It shows us the boy as father of the 



10 JOHN MARSHALL 

man. It shows his simply, naturally, without ostentation, yet 
•without hesitation, taking the place for which nature formed 
him — a leader among his fellows, compelling by the power that 
lay in his tongue and in the force of his will, dominating with- 
out irritating. It shows him making a serious business of 
the drilling lesson — working while he worked — then turning 
with a like degree of spirit to play. And the game was the 
one he played from childhood to old age with a zest that never 
flagged. John Marshall quoit-thrower is as familiar a figure to 
the mind's eye as John Alarshall presiding judge. 

The regiment of minute men he spoke of was made up of 
some three hundred and fifty volunteers of Fauquier, Orange 
and Culpeper counties. Thomas Marshall was major of in- 
fantry and his son John lieutenant. They were the first minute 
men raised for the Revolution in Virginia. Their uniform 
was much the same as that in which we have seen young 
John — hunting-shirts, "homespun, homewoven and home- 
made," with Henry's words, "Liberty or Death," in white 
letters on their bosoms. Their flag bore a coiled rattlesnake 
with the legend, "Don't tread on me." Buck tails furnished 
plumes for their hats, and they wore tomahawks and scalping 
knives in their belts. Their crudely war-like equipment raises 
a smile today ; it struck terror to the heart of the beholder as 
they marched through the country to Williamsburg, and Lord 
Dunmore told his troops that if they fell into the hands of 
these "shirt-men" they would be scalped. 

In the battle of "Great Bridge" — the first fighting in Vir- 
ginia — the "shirt-men" showed that the awe they inspired was 
justified, though there is no record of any scalping. "In this 
battle," says Judge Story, "Lieutenant Marshall took an active 
part and had a full share of the honors of the day." This v/as 
in the autumn of 1775. In July, 1776, young John was made 
first lieutenant in the Eleventh Regiment, in the Continental 
Line, and in May, 1777, was promoted to the rank of captain. 
He was constantly in service till 1779, and fought in the battles 
of Iron Hill, Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth. 

He was often called upon to serve as judge-advocate, which 



JOHN MARSHALL 11 

brought him intimacy with Washington and Hamilton, both 
of whom won his devoted admiration. He suffered with Wash- 
ington and the exhausted troops the horrors of the winter at 
Valley Forge, and some of his fellow soldiers have left testi- 
mony concerning the manner in which he bore his own trials 
and heartened the men to bear theirs. Lieutenant Philip 
Slaughter, one of his mess-mates, describes him as the best- 
tempered man he ever knew — "idolized by the soldiers and 
other officers, whom he encouraged by his own exuberance of 
spirits and entertained by his inexhaustible fund of anecdotes." 
We see him forgetting discomforts in matches of his favorite 
game — throwing a quoit further than any other man — foot- 
racing, and with a running jump clearing a stick laid on the 
heads of two men as tall as himself. 

One day he ran a stocking-foot race, in stockings knitted of 
blue yarn with white heels, and was dubbed "silver-heels." 

In 1779, when part of the Virginia line was sent to the 
defense of South Carolina, he was one of the officers left with 
the troops with Washington. The term of enlistment of these 
men soon ended and Captain Marshall was left without a 
command. He was ordered to return to Virginia and take 
charge of such new troops as the Legislature should raise for 
him, and he set out at once for Williamsburg, where the Legis- 
lature was in session. 

We have now a new picture of our young hero. We have 
had John Marshall the soldier; here is John Marshall the 
beau. His father. Colonel Thomas Marshall, was in command 
of a garrison at Yorktown, a few miles from Williamsburg. 
Young John seized the opportunity to visit his family. Next 
door to the house occupied by Colonel Marshall and his suite 
lived Mr. Jacqueline Ambler, longtime Treasurer of Virginia, 
with his bevy of charming daughters. The Ambler girls had 
become intimate with the young Marshalls, who constantly 
sang the praises of their war hero. Brother John. When the 
girls heard that Brother John was coming and was to be at 
a ball to which they were going, their interest ran high. One 
of them, Elizabeth, afterward the wife of Colonel Edward 



12 JOHNMARSHALL 

Carrington of the Revolution, described it in a letter which 
has been preserved. She says : 

"Perhaps no officer that had been introduced to us excited 
so much interest. We had heard him spoken of as a perfect 

paragon Our expectations were raised to the 

highest pitch and the little circle at York was on tip-toe on 
his arrival. Our girls were particularly emulous who should 
be first introduced." 

While the older girls accustomed to the attentions of the 
young officers chatted about the new beau their little sister 
Mary, or "Polly" as they called her, who was not yet "out," 
listened and heard the first call of romance. The letter 
continues : 

"My sister, then only fourteen years old and diffident beyond 
all others, declared that we were giving ourselves useless 
trouble, for that she, for the first time, had made up her 
mind to go to the ball, though she had not even been to danc- 
ing school, and was resolved to set her cap for him and eclipse 
us all. This in the end proved true and at the first introduc- 
tion he became devoted to her. I, expecting an Adonis, lost 
all desire of becoming agreeable in his eyes when I beheld 
his awkward figure, unpolished manners and total neglect of 
person." 

The writer soon found that John Marshall was no ordinary 
country bumpkin, and acknowledges the discovery, adding: 

"Under the slouched hat there beamed an eye that pene- 
trated at one glance the inmost recesses of human char- 
acter and beneath the careless garb there dwelt a heart 
replete with every virtue." 

The Ambler girls had been educated by their father, who 
set them copies in "the fairest hand, containing a lesson of piety 
or an elegant moral quotation," introduced them to arithmetic 
with "figures encircled with flowers" and proved himself a 
proper disciplinarian by frequent use of the rod. Little Mary's 
beau added substantially to this elementary foundation for, to 
quote the older sister again, "Whatever taste I may have for 



JOHN MARSHALL 13 

reading was entirely gained from him, who read to us from 
the best authors, particularly the poets, with so much taste 
and sublimity, without which I should never have had an 
idea of." 

So pleasant an, episode in a soldier's life could not last long. 
He went on to Williamsburg to await recruits, but the Legis- 
lature was slow in furnishing them, so he made use of the 
time by attending the law lectures of Mr. (afterward Chan- 
cellor) Wythe, and the lectures on philosophy of Dr. James 
Madison, President of William and Mary College, and after- 
ward first Bishop of Virginia. 

There is in existence an old note-book used by John Mar- 
shall while attending these classes. It shows that his thoughts 
sometimes strayed beyond the class-room after the manner of 
college boys in love today and always. Underscored with many 
flourishes of the pen we find, at intervals, on the yellowed 
pages the name "Polly Ambler." Sometimes it is just "Polly," 
while lower down on the same page appears "John Marshall." 

At the close of the college for summer vacation, and the 
only college term John Marshall ever enjoyed, he was given 
a license to practice law ; but duty to his country drew him 
back into the army. Despairing of receiving a command, he 
set out alone and on foot to make his way back to headquarters, 
reaching Philadelphia in such dishevelled condition that the 
hotel keeper refused to admit him. He rejoined the army, 
however, and remained in active service until January, 1781 — 
nine months before the surrender of Cornwallis — when, seeing 
no hope of obtaining a command, he resigned his commission. 

As soon as the Virginia courts of law, which were suspended 
until after the siege of Yorktown, were reopened, John Mar- 
shall offered for practice. He was now twenty-five years 
old. Little conventional training for his profession he had 
had, but army life is a good school for the development of 
manhood and the study of human nature, and at the bar his 
powers of mind and character met instant recognition. 

But life was not all plain sailing to John Marshall or any 
other citizen of the new Republic. After war comes peace in 



14 JOHNMARSHALL 

name only, for after war comes hard times. "The tumult 
and the shouting dies" leaving even the flushed victor flat in 
the depths of reaction and dismayed at the chaos out of which 
order must be painfully established if the benefits of victory 
are to be secured. Disbanded troops clamored in vain for pay ; 
there was no money with which to pay them. Agriculture 
and trade were crippled ; manufacture at a standstill. The 
complaining of the unemployed was heard in the land; the 
distress was appalling. So long as hunger and cold are among 
the ills, human flesh is heir to will the empty purse be man's 
ghastliest, most unbearable woe. And when not only today's 
and tomorrow's need, but yesterday's debts are crying to the 
empty purse, desperate indeed is the situation. 

Such was the plight of numbers of ablebodied and indus- 
trious men in all of the newly freed states. The people looked 
to the state legislatures for relief and demanded ruinous meas- 
ures for adjustment of debts. It was a time that not only 
tried men's souls, but tried the abilities of those upon whose 
counsel the very life of the states depended. To make their 
part more difficult, popular leaders and men of desperate fortune 
went about inflaming the public mind against the wiser heads 
who opposed granting license for violation of private contracts. 
Each state harrassed by its own problems, distracted by the 
distress of its citizens, yet each regarding all the others with 
jealous eye, managed its affairs in its own way — all pulling 
for self and against each other with a result that was con- 
fusion worse confounded. 

John Marshall was one of those who, to use his own words, 
became "convinced that no safe and permanent remedy could 
be found but in a more efificient and better organized general 
government." 

Two great and bitterly antagonistic parties sprang into being. 
The Federalist, of whose principles General Washington was 
the acknowledged head and supporter — bent upon perfecting 
and enlarging the powers of the National government ; the 
Republican (the forerunner of the present Democratic party) 
— bent on preserving the sovereignty of the states. 



JOHNMARSHALL 16 

It was at such a, time that the young lawyer, John Marshall, 
late captain in the Revolutionary Army, was called to enter 
the political arena, and such was the crucible fate or fortune 
had prepared for the testing of his talents ; for in the spring 
after he began practicing law in his native county, Fauquier, 
that county sent him to the Legislature. He found party feel- 
ing running high there, as elsewhere. Madison was leader of 
the Federalists in the Virginia Legislature, and Marshall 
promptly became his most ardent supporter. In a letter to 
a friend written later in life he says: "I had grown up at a 
time when a love of the Union and the resistance to the claims 
of Great Britain were the inseparable inmates of the same 
bosom ; when patriotism and a strong fellow-feeling with our 
suffering fellow citizens of Boston, were identical ; when the 
maxim 'United we stand ; divided we fall,' was the maxim 
of every orthodox American. And I had imbibed these senti- 
ments so thoroughly that they constituted a part of my being. 
I carried them into the army where I found myself asso- 
ciated with brave men from different states, who were risking 
life and everything valuable in a common cause, believed by 
all to be most precious ; and where I was confirmed in the 
habit of considering America as my country and Congress as 
my government." 

There was in Virginia at this time a Council of State, com- 
posed of eight men, chosen by the Legislature to advise with 
the Governor. In the autumn of 1782 following the spring 
of John Marshall's election to the Legislature, Judge Edmund 
Pendleton, President of the Virginia Court of Appeals, wrote 
to Mr. Madison : ''Young Mr. Marshall is elected a Councilor. 

He is clever, but I think, too young for that 

department, which he should rather have earned as a retire- 
ment and reward, by ten or twelve years of hard service." 
That his confreres in the Legislature deemed him worthy of 
so high an honor after only six months' service shows the 
impression for wisdom and trustworthiness he had made in 
that short time. 



16 JOHNMARSHALL 

But deep in public affairs as John Marshall already found 
himself, service of his country did not absorb all his thoughts. 
Perhaps he would not have been so brave a soldier, so warin 
a patriot, so pure a statesman, had he been less devoted a 
lover. Polly Ambler, the girl who at fourteen had captured his 
heart at the Yorktown ball, still held it fast. When the war 
was over fortune favored the sweethearts, for Jacqueline 
Ambler, too, was elected to the Council of State, and moved, 
with his family, to Richmond. Doubtless the young lawyer 
and member of the Assembly found time for frequent visits 
to the pleasant cottage in its large lawn on Tenth Street 
between Clay and Marshall Streets, where the Amblers lived, 
and for strolls, with the charming Polly on his arm, up the 
river bank to "the falls" — a lover's lane of the day. His sister- 
in-law, Mrs. Carrington, calls him ''an enthusiast in love," and 
quotes him as saying in after years that he "looked with as- 
tonishment at the present race of lovers, so totally unlike 
himself." 

I might show him as the jealous lover and describe his 
feelings when "Major Dick" came courting Polly, but I for- 
bear. He and his Polly were married in January, 1783, when 
she was — after the three years' courtship — only seventeen and 
he twenty-eight. 

Mrs. Carrington says : "After paying the parson he had 
but one solitary guinea left" upon which to begin married life. 

After the wedding he settled in Richmond. The single 
guinea in his podket was not lonesome long, for in the same 
year he bought the block, or "square" as he would have called 
it, between Clay and Marshall and Eighth and Ninth Streets. 
This property was in the fashionable section of the city, but 
probably did not cost more than a thirty-foot lot in an equally 
fashionable quarter would today. Upon it stood, on a site now 
covered by the John Marshall High School, a two-story, dormer- 
windowed frame cottage, in which the young couple set up 
housekeeping and lived the six years they waited to build and 
make ready the substantial and commodious brick homestead 
on the corner of their lot. 



JOHN MARSHALL 17 

The old note-book already quoted is many-leaved. When 
John Marshall became a house-holder and family man he used 
its blank pages for keeping accounts, and many interesting 
items appear in it. I only give one: 

"Polly's bonnet, fifteen dollars." 

Richmond was but a small town when John Marshall came 
to live in it ; a mere village with homes varying from smallest 
cottage to dignified mansion — not many of any type, but each 
having something in the way of yard and garden — straggling 
over the older part of Church Hill and lower Main Street 
and Broad, Marshall and Clay Streets, below Fifth. Just an 
old-fashioned village it was, but it had become the capital 
of Virginia and drawn to itself many of the most talented 
and promising of Virginia's sons, and these had made a little 
Athens of Richmond on the James. It is as foolish to ask 
why Virginia past produced so many of what the world calls 
great men as it is to ask why England has never had but one 
Shakespeare. Some would say it is a question of atmosphere 
— that the distance which clothes the mountain in its azure 
blue has made these men loom unduly large as we look back 
upon them across the years. But their recorded words and 
deeds force us to believe that there really were giants in those 
days. Maybe it was because intellectual gifts and accomplish- 
ments won more respect then, because modest incomes earned 
in the learned professions carried more prestige than riches 
made in business, because men cared more for distinction than 
for material display. It must be remembered, of course, that 
there was not so much for money to buy then. Had the Amer- 
ican of Revolutionary times known modern luxuries, from 
bath tubs to automobiles, perhaps he would not have contented 
himself with the gentle toil of compounding state papers of 
thoughts that breathe and words that burn, generously spiced 
with Latin quotations, nor with the gentle recreation of read- 
ing poetry to the ladies. And when there were not only no bath 
tubs, no automobiles, but no organizations for reforming the 
world and promoting everything under the sun — with their in- 



18 JOHN MARSHALL 

mumerable committees and constant meetings — no servant prob- 
lem, no telephone and almost no newspaper, perhaps there 
was time for thought and study. The fact stands that insig- 
nificant as Virginia's capital was in population or wealth, when 
and long after John Marshall became one of her citizens, the 
talent, character and personality of her acknowledged leaders 
of thought and of manners, gave her an influence which was 
felt throughout the new Republic then, and a stamp of great- 
ness which every student of her history and biography must 
recognize now. 

Among the leaders John Marshall at once found a place, 
and he and his girl-bride were admitted to the inner circles of 
the elite. Of course he was no stranger in Richmond, where 
his services as a member of the Legislature had given him 
both reputation and social acquaintance. After his marriage 
he resigned the Council to devote himself to his profession and 
his home, and the law reports of the time show him in nearly 
all the most important cases in the Richmond courts. But 
he could not keep out of office. In spite of his removal to 
Richmond, Fauquier re-elected him to the Legislature — thus 
showing him the confidence of those that had known him 
longest. He accepted, for he knew his country's need. Four 
years later, in 1787, he was chosen to represent his adopted 
county, Henrico. 

Excited and bitter discussions between the advocates of 
the sovereignty of the States and of the Union still absorbed 
the legislatures of all the states. In Virginia, John Marshall 
remained steadfast to the Federalist party and its leader, 
James Madison. Finally, to settle matters, the famous Con- 
vention of 1787 was called at Philadelphia and the Constitu- 
tion of the United States framed and presented to the people 
for consideration. The various states now called conventions 
to decide upon the acceptance or rejection of the Constitution. 
John Marshall was (to use his own words) "a. determined 
advocate for its adoption," and in order to work for it, became 
a candidate for the convention. A majority of the voters of 
Henrico county were opposed to it and told him they would 




Copyright by A. P. V. A. 



THE DRAWING ROOM 



JOHN MARSHALL 



19 



support him if he would promise to vote against it, otherwise 
they would oppose his election. He frankly declared that 
on the contrary he would vote for it. Eut (to use his own 
words again) "Parties had not yet become so bitter as to ex- 
tinguish private affection." He was chosen by a good majority. 
The Virginia Convention met in the "Academy," which stood 
on Twelfth Street, on a lot now occupied in part by "The 
Retreat for the Sick." The country watched anxiously to 
see what Virginia would do with the Constitution, for many 
believed that her vote would influence other states. The mem- 
bers of the Convention were serious-minded men come together 
with a solemn sense of their responsibility. The chief debates 
were led by James Madison (for the Constitution), supported 
by George Nicholas, Governor Edmund Randolph, Edmund 
Pendleton and John Marshall; and Patrick Henry (opposed 
to the Constitution), supported by Grayson and George Mason. 
The clashing of intellects and of party feeling must have shaken 
not only the little Academy building, but the whole town. 
Day after day, for twenty-five days the battle of words raged. 
At last the Constitution won by ten votes. Nine states had 
already adopted it, settling its fate without Virginia's aid. 
John Marshall had contented himself for the most part with 
supporting Madison, ])ut had made three notable speeches; 
one on the power of taxation, one on the power over the 
militia and one "on the power of the judiciary. An eyewitness 
describes him as "rising after Monroe had spoken, a tall young 
man, slovenly dressed in loose summer apparel." 

John Marshall was an enthusiast always — in work and in 
play, in reading and study, and in love, in war and in politics, 
but when he rose to debate he never let his heart run away 
with his head. Nor had this eldest of fifteen children, reared 
in frugality on a frontier farm, any taste for the ornate in 
dress, manners or speech. His debates were colored with no 
flowers of rhetoric, but were spoken straight to the judgment, 
for the single purpose of convincing. Says William Wirt, his 
eloquence consisted in "deep self-conviction, emphatic earnest- 
ness and the close and logical connection of his thoughts." 



20 JOHNMARSHALL 

Another witness likens him to "some great bird which flounders 
on the earth for a while before it acquires impetus to sustain 
its soaring flight." 

The fight for the Constitution won, John Marshall — now 
thirty-three years old — made a determined effort to retire from 
politics He was building his house, his family was growing, 
the beloved young wife had become an invalid. He needed 
time for home duties and pleasures and he needed the money 
strict attention to his profession would bring. But the Con- 
stitution still had its enemies, who now showed their antago- 
nism by opposing its measures. Strong support in the Legis- 
lature was essential. John Marshall was chosen again, and 
again, at sacrifice of private interest, he obeyed the call to 
service and for four years, from 1788 to 1792, "the rights, 
du' 'es and powers of the National Government were defended 
b}' Iiis clear and convincing logic." 

In 1792 he actually withdrew to private life. 

In 1789 General, then President, Washington had offered 
him the office of District Attorney of the United States at 
Richmond, but he had declined it. In 1795 Washington of- 
fered him the office of Attorney General of the United States, 
and in 1796 that of Minister to France. Marshall declined 
these, also, in turn, but in 1795 was persuaded to return to the 
Virginia Legislature. 

In the meantime the French Revolution had broken out. 
The world looked on with interest and the new American 
Republic, so lately itself freed from oppression, threw up its 
hat in youthful enthusiasm for the success of France, its late 
friend and ally. Even the wild excesses of the Revolution were 
no damper on the sympathy of the American masses. 

The wiser heads scented danger. To take the part of France 
would mean to arouse the enmity of Great Britain and our 
country already suffering from the effects of one war with 
England was ill prepared to embark upon another. President 
Washington made up his mind to preserve the peace he and 
his soldiers had suffered to win, and issued a proclamation of 
neutralit}'. The country was at once in an uproar — Republi- 



JOHN MARSHALL. 21 

cans denouncing Washington and the proclamation, Federalists 
supporting them. John Marshall, who had been the devoted 
supporter of Washington in everything, used all his powers 
of argument and eloquence for the proclamation, though his 
old leader, Madison, as well as Jefferson and Monroe was 
against it. Marshall was bitterly attacked by newspaper writers 
and by the Republican orators. Indeed it was a time of violence 
of emotion and speech, in midst of which the calm, cool deter- 
mination of Washington, supported by the strong, unwaver- 
ing logic of John Marshall, saved the country. 

At length Washington sent Chief Justice John Jay to Eng- 
land to negotiate a treaty of peace. Jay succeeded in arrang- 
ing a treaty, but it was a compromise and did not please any- 
body, though it was the best he could do. It was loudly de- 
nounced in Virginia, as throughout America, and caused harsh 
criticism of Washington. John Marshall's friends advised him 
against supporting it, for they feared for his own popularity. 
But he believed the treaty indispensible to peace and urged its 
ratification in a speech which has been pronounced "one of 
the noblest efforts of his genius," and which increased his 
fame throughout the country. 

In spite of the treaty, relations with France became more 
strained, and, in May, 1797, the new President, John Adams, 
called a special session of Congress. Hoping for an honorable 
settlement. President Adams sent Marshall (Federalist) and 
Gerry (Republican) as Envoys Extraordinary to France. Re- 
ferring to the appointment of Marshall, Adams describes him 
as "a plain man, very sensible, cautious, guarded and learned 
in the law of nations." The mission of the envoys accom- 
plished little but the increase of Marshall's reputation. His 
dispatches to the French Government, though unavailing, were 
most able state papers, and upon his return to America he 
was received in Philadelphia with applause. Thomas Jeffer- 
son, who was his political enemy, spoke contemptuously of 
the envoys in letters written at the time, but was one of those 
who called to pay his respects to Marshall when he came back 
from France. 



22 JOHN MARSHALL 

John Marshall now tried once more to settle down at home, 
practice his profession, enjoy his books, his friends and his 
favorite game and live in peace. But fate willed not so. Mrs. 
Burton Harrison tells how Washington summoned him to Mt. 
Vernon to urge him to run for Congress. The two friends 
argued till far into the night, neither yielding, and parted for 
their beds in some heat. Next morning John Marshall rose 
early to slip away without seeing his host ; but Washington 
was up and out ahead of him, and holding out his hand, 
begged forgiveness for his language of the night before. Then, 
smiling, asked his guest what he intended to do. "Do?" ex- 
claimed John Marshall, as he gripped the general's hand. 
"Why, sir, I'm going to Congress !" He took his seat in 
December, 1798 — the month in which Washington died. 

A lively account of Marshall's election to Congress is given in 
George Wythe Munford's quaint book, "The Two Parsons." 
A Republican, John Clopton, had been in Congress two years. 
Marshall was, of course, the Federalist candidate. Each party 
believed that the salvation of the country depended upon the 
election of its man. Says Munford : "Sick men were taken 
in their beds to the polls. The halt, the lame and the blind 
were hunted up and every mode of conveyance was ushered 
into service." In accordance with the custom of the day, all 
the voters of the county gathered at the courthouse to vote. 
The candidates sat side by side on the justice's bench. As 
the voters were brought in the sheriff asked each, in turn, for 
whom he voted, and the candidate named would express thanks. 
All day long the court green, on lower Main Street, was 
thronged with those taking part in or watching the fight. The 
election was close and therefore the more exciting. In the 
late afternoon a count of the votes showed a tie and party 
feeling rose to its highest pitch. More diligently, desperately 
than ever the country was scoured for votes, but the racers 
were kept neck and neck, for no sooner was a vote cast for 
Marshall than it was cancelled by one for Clopton. 

There were two men of mark, friends of John Marshall, 
Parson Blair of the Presbyterian, and Parson Buchanan of 



JOHN MARSHALL 23 

the Episcopal Church, who had not voted. They believed 
that the clergy should take no part in politics and were spend- 
ing a quiet day at Parson Blair's. In the extremity at the 
courthouse some of the Federalists remembered the parsons, 
and jumping in a carriage drove post-haste to the Manse and 
succeeded in getting them into the carriage and to the court- 
house. As they made their way through the surging, noisy 
mob to the polls, a voice called out: 

"Here comes two preachers dead shot for Marshall." 

Both candidates recognizing them rose from their seats in 
respect, and a terrific shout went up from the crowd. The 
sheriff put the question to Mr. Blair, who declared himself 
for "John Marshall," who replied: 

"Your vote is appreciated, Mr. Blair." 

Then Mr. Buchanan's vote was asked for. To the astonish- 
ment of all present he replied, "For John Clopton." 
Mr. Clopton, as much surprised as anybody, said : 

"Mr. Buchanan, I shall treasure that vote in my memory. 
It will be regarded as a feather in my cap forever." 

There were hurrahs for both Marshall and Clopton, and in 
the midst of the din the parsons departed — Parson Buchanan 
explaining to his companion, "Brother Blair, when I was forced 
against my will to go, I simply determined to balance your 
vote, and now we shall hear no more complaint of the clergy 
interfering with elections." 

John Marshall distinguished himself in Congress, as else- 
where, and the following year President Adams appointed him 
to his cabinet as Secretary of State. 

On January 31, 1801, Adams appointed him Chief Justice 
of the United States. Mainly, of course, upon the ability and 
integrity with which for thirty-four years — until his death — 
he discharged the duties of this highest office in the gift of the 
President, rests the national fame of John Marshall and the 
righteous pride of Virginia in claiming him as her son. 



24 JOHNMARSHALL 

It is hard for us, citizens of a State which once seceded from 
the Union, for us whose entire loyalty to that Union is still 
looked upon with suspicion in some quarters, though it is not 
in the least doubtful to our own minds, it is hard to realize 
that our John Marshall practically made these United States. 
But he did, for he took the Constitution for which he had 
striven, and during the third part of a century he was Chief 
Justice, expounded and interpreted it for the people until it 
became not merely an immortal state paper, but a living practi- 
cal instrument for a great government to take form and live by. 

During these years of gigantic responsibility and intellectual 
achievement, his labors were lightened by one of those rare 
friendships, or comradeships, which bless those to whom they 
are given and strengthen the belief in hum.an nature of those 
who witness them. I mean his intimacy with the brilliant 
Supreme Court Justice from Massachusetts, Joseph Story. 
Would that time permitted liberal quotation from his noble 
address on the life and services of John Marshall. I will 
only give one picture. 

"He seemed," says Judge Story, "the very personification of 
Justice itself as he ministered at its altars — in the presence of 

the Nation Enter but that hall and you saw him 

listening with a quiet, easy dignity to the discussions at the 
bar; silent, serious, searching; with a keenness of thought 
which sophistry could not mislead, or error confuse, or in- 
genuity delude ; with a benignity of aspect which invited the 
modest to move on with confidence, with a conscious firmness 
of purpose which repressed arrogance and overawed declama- 
tion. You heard him pronounce the opinion of the court in a 
low, but modulated voice, unfolding in luminous order every 
type of argument ; trying its strength and measuring its value, 
until you felt yourself in the presence of the very oracle of the 
law." Judge Story adds : 

"His peculiar triumph was in the exposition of Constitutional 
law. It was here that he stood confessedly without a rival. 
His proudest epitaph may be written in a single 



J O 11 N M A K S H A L L 25 

line — 'Here lies the expounder of the Consthtition of the 
United States.' " 

So much for an outhne, shght and rough, of John Marshall, 
public servant. We are gathered today in the house that he 
built and made his home. We are here, but he and his invalid 
wife, his children, his servants and the friends that came to 
visit him intimately here are gone. It is well that we consider, 
in this place, John Marshall, the man, and so, if we can, 
induce his spirit to come back and inhabit, in some sort, these 
sacred old rooms. "Whatever may be his fame in the eyes of 
the world," says Judge Story, his highest glory was the purity, 
affectionateness, liberality and devotedness of his domestic life. 
Home, home, was the scene of his real triumphs !" 

The house is characteristic of its creator — sturdy and square 
and dignified; impressive in its simple outlines and ample 
proportions, well-bred in its sufficient but chaste ornament. 
The original entrance was through the porch on the Ninth 
Street side. Judge Marshall meant to have a square reception 
hall, but through a mistake the plan only provided a narrow- 
entry, so the family used the room to the right of this entry 
as a hall. The room to the left, with windows on both Ninth 
and Marshall Streets, was the drawing-room and the room 
adjoining and connecting with it the dining-room. Over the 
drawing-room was the bedchamber of Judge and Mrs. Mar- 
shall. 

The rooms were simply furnished with good mahogany. 
Between the drawing-room windows hung a mirror in a gilt 
frame with a colored picture in the upper part of it, and 
after a while there were family portraits in oils and a "St. 
Memin" of John Marshall himself, made some seven years 
after he became Chief Justice, and one of his son Thomas. In 
the dining-room was a large bookcase filled with works of 
general literature. The law-books were, after the custom of 
the day, in the office building in the yard. Upstairs were four- 
post beds covered with heavy, hand-made counterpaines — the 
housewife's pride — and protected from draughts by curtain and 
valance. There were a few chairs covered with chintz and a 



26 JOHNMARSHALL 

rug or two on the dry-rubbed floors and white dimity window 
curtains drawn back at each side under a deep valance of the 
same material, and beside Mrs. Marshall's bed was a stand on 
which stood the light by which her husband read aloud to her. 

There was no straining after effect in these rooms, but they 
were restful bedchambers and they illustrated the simplicity 
that all of the biographers of John Marshall insist upon as his 
most striking characteristic. One of the last living persons 
to leave testimony concerning him was an aged grocer of his 
neighborhood. He said a common saying of parents whose 
children craved finery was, "What's good enough for Judge 
Marshall is good enough for us." 

It is through such bits of tradition that John Marshall ceases 
to be a bronze figure and becomes flesh and blood like our- 
selves — human. In his queue tide with black ribbon, his volum- 
inous stock, his shorts and buckles and cocked hat, he would 
seem to us quite a dashing figure. Not so to his familiars, 
from whom we have it that though six feet tall and erect, he 
was ungainly and loose-jointed and that through his own in- 
difference to appearance or indifference of his tailor, his 
clothes, though neat, were badly fitted and gave him a care- 
less appearance. 

Judge Story, writing of John Marshall the year the St. 
Memin was made, mentioned his black hair, his small, twink- 
ling eyes, his conversation, precise, but "occasionally em- 
barrassed by a hesitancy and drawling," his laugh ("I love his 
laugh — it is too hearty for an intriguer") and his good temper. 

"Meet him in a stage coach as a stranger and travel with him 
a whole day," says Judge Story, "and you would only be 
struck with his readiness to administer to the accommodation 
of others and his anxiety to appropriate least to himself. Be 
with him the unknown guest at an inn, and he seemed adjusted 
to the very scene ; partaking of the warm welcome of its 
comforts, whenever found, and if not found, resigning him- 
self without complaint to its meanest arrangement 

He had great simplicity and yet with a natural dignity that 
suppressed impertinence and silenced rudeness. His simplicity 



JOHN MARSHALL 



27 



had an exquisite naivete which charmed every one, and gave 
a sweetness to his famiHar conversation approaching to fasci- 
nation." 

Bishop Meade says : "It was my privilege more than once 
to travel with him between Fauquier and Fredericksburg. 

Although myself never much given to dress or 

equipage, yet I was not at all ashamed to compare with him. 
. . . . , Whether as to clothing, horse, saddle or bridle. 
Servant he had none. Federalist he was in his politics, in his 
manners and habits he was truly Republican." The good bishop 
fervently adds : "Would that all Republicans were like him in 
this respect !" 

John Marshall's contemporaries evidently forgave him for 
not being stylish ; w^e may go further, and thank him for 
carrying the virtue of simplicity to an extreme that made it 
a fault, and thus saving a sufficiently perfect picture from the 
monotony of over-perfection. 

There is one little item on record which shows that he was 
not always regardless of dress. Writing to his wife a few 
days after the inauguration of President John Quincy Adams, 

he says : "I administered the oath to the President 

in my new suit of domestic manufacture. He, too, was dressed 
in the same manner, though his clothes were made at a differ- 
ent establishment. The cloth is very fine and smooth." 

Judge Marshall's biographers lay great stress on his bringing 
his marketing home. It was the custom in Richmond and 
other Virginia towns then, and long afterwards, for the master 
of the house to go to market, often with basket on arm, and the 
picture Judge Marshall made walking home with a turkey 
in one hand and basket of vegetables in the other w^as not so 
amazing to his neighbors as it seems to us. 

Another familiar picture shows him taking a spring morn- 
ing stroll, dressed in a plain linen roundabout and shorts, bare- 
headed and eating cherries from his hat, which he carried 
under his arm. He stopped in the porch of the Eagle Hotel 
to chat with the landlord, who afterward recommended him 
to a stranger looking for a lawyer, who happened to be present. 



28 JOHN MARSHALL 

The stranger preferred to employ a venerable looking gen- 
tleman in powdered wig and black cloth, but in a case called 
before his own his lawyer and John Marshall were on opposite 
sides. When the stranger heard their arguments he saw his 
mistake and asked Marshall's assistance in his case, though he 
only had five dollars left of the hundred he had brought to 
town for a lawyer's fee. With characteristic good nature John 
Marshall accepted the explanation and the fee. 

His unafifected manners were doubtless largely due to his 
country breeding. He never lost his love for the country. 
Bishop Meade met him riding through Richmond on horse- 
back one morning at daybreak with a bag of clover seed 
he was carrying to his farm near the city, lying before him. 
As long as he lived he made holiday trips to "Oakhill." In 
a letter to Judge Peters of Philadelphia just after the trial of 
Aaron Burr for treason — the most sensational trial over which 
Judge Marshall ever presided — he writes that the day after 
the commitment of Burr he "galloped to the mountains." 

Among John Marshall's leading traits was tenderness to 
women and children. To the children of his neighborhood he 
was known as "Grandpa." To his invalid wife he was lover 
as long as she lived. One of his contemporaries has left a little 
picture of her that slight as it is sticks in the memory — just 
a glimpse of "a face, pale and sweet, looking from a quaint 
calash bonnet as her big tender husband lifted her into her 
carriage." 

Judge Story says that John Marshall regarded women as 
"the friends, the companions, the equals of men." Speaking 
to them "when present as he spoke to them when absent in 
language of just appeal to their understandings, their tastes 
and their duties." 

John Marshall's religious belief has been a subject of con- 
troversy. He was a man of pious habits, and though not a 
communicant, was a regular attendant of and a liberal contrib- 
utor to the Episcopal Church. He was one of the earliest mem- 
bers of the Monumental Qiurch, built on the site of the theatre 
that was destroyed by fire, and owned a pew there, on the 



JOHN MARSHALL 29 

middle aisle, near the chancel. It was the custom then to 
turn around and kneel in the pew, and Bishop Meade thus 
describes the devout manner in which the Chief Justice con- 
formed to this custom, both in the neighborhood of "Oakhill" 
and in Richmond : "I can never forget how he would pros- 
trate his tall form before the rude benches, without backs, 
at Cool Spring Meeting House, in the midst of his children 
and grandchildren and his old neighbors. * * * At the build- 
ing of the Monumental Church he was much incommoded by 
the narrowness of the pews, which partook too much of the 
modern fashion. Not finding room enough for his whole body 
within the pew, he used to take his seat nearest the door of 
his pew, and, throwing it open, let his legs stretch a little into 
the aisle. This I have seen with my own eyes." 

Judge Marshall told his daughter, Mrs. Harvie, near the 
end of his life that he had always believed in the Christian 
revelation, but not in the divinity of Christ ; but that he had 
lately become "convinced of the supreme divinity of the Sa- 
viour and had resolved to make a public confession of his 
faith." "While waiting improved health to enable him to 
go to church for that purpose," said Mrs. Harvie, "he grew 
worse and died." In a eulogy of his wife, written Christmas 
day, 1832, one year after her death and four years before his 
own, he says : "Hers was the religion taught by the Saviour 
of men." He told Mrs. Harvie that he always concluded his 
prayers on going to bed with those learned at his mother's 
knee, the "Lord's Prayer" and "Now I lay me down to sleep." 

John Marshall's greatness of heart and breadth of mind 
are illustrated by his varied interests. He was president of 
the first Virginia Agricultural Society. He believed slavery 
to be a great evil, and was president of the Virginia Coloniza- 
tion Society, whose object was to send negroes to Africa. In 
1773 he was made Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Vir- 
ginia Masons, and in 183 1 was elected first president of the 
Virginia Historical Society. If there had been an Association 
for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities in his time, I 
have not a doubt he would have been on its advisory board. 



30 JOHNMARSHALL 

He never made but one adventure in the realm of authorship 
— his "Life of Washington," published first in five volumes and 
afterward revised and shortened to three. It was a book to 
make his enemies rejoice, for though a mass of valuable data 
it was put together hastily and without literary art at a time 
when his powers were being tremendously taxed by his duties 
as Chief Justice. Jefferson, the political enemy of both Wash- 
ington and Marshall, was offended by the book's laudation 
of Washington, and called it "a five volume libel." Judge Mar- 
shall himself said of it: "I have written no book except the 
'Life of Washington,' which was executed with so much 
precipitation as to require much correction." 

John Marshall was one of a delightful circle of friends and 
neighbors of old Richmond. Among them were those two 
benevolent and lovable figures already mentioned, Parson Blair 
and Parson Buchanan. Life in any town would have been 
sweeter and more wholesome for the presence of "the two 
Parsons." Then there w^ere Hon. William Wirt, Judge Philip 
N. Nicholas, Thomas Ritchie, Daniel Call, John Wickham, 
Dr. William Foushee, Dr. John Brockenbrough, Thomas 
Rutherfoord, Charles Ellis, Major James Gibbon, William 
Munford, Dr. Peter Lyons, Colonel John Ambler, Colonel 
John Harvie, and other gentlemen of parts, who, with their 
families, composed Society with a capital S in Richmond. 

These gentlemen and more, to the number of thirty, had a 
charming country club, though they did not know it by that 
name. They called it the "Barbecue Club." It met on Sat- 
urdays, at Buchanan Spring, in a beautiful grove on Parson 
Buchanan's farm, back of where the Richmond, Fredericks- 
burg and Potomac freight depot now stands. There was always 
a dinner, at which julep, punch and toddy were allowed, 
though wine was prohibited except on special occasions. After 
dinner a match at quoits was played with as much zest as golf 
would be today. The human side of John Marshall is seen 
to better advantage in this game than anywhere else. Most 
of the gentlemen played with handsome brass quoits, kept 
polished by the negro servant, Jasper Crouch. Judge Marshall 



JOHN MARSHALL 31 

had a set of rough iron quoits twice as large as any others, 
which few of the club could throw. "Yei," said John Wick- 
ham, "it flies from his arm as flew the iron ball at the Grecian 
games when thrown by the robust arm of Telemonian Ajax." 

Munford's book describes a certain meeting of the club, 
when Judge Marshall and Mr. Wickham were appointed to 
provide the feast with the aid of Robin Spurlock and Jasper 
Crouch. "A better dinner of the substantial of life," says 
Mr. Munford, "was never seen." The "dessert" was "a juicy 
mutton chop, cooked to a turn, and deviled ham, highly seasoned 
with mustard, cayenne pepper, and a slight flavoring of Wor- 
cester sauce." Judge Marshall sat at the head of the table 
and Mr. Wickham at the foot. "The two parsons," who were 
honorary members of the club, were there, and Parson Blair 
had answered his invitation with a rhymed eulogy of the club 
and its favorite sport. This was read and applauded. 

Judge Marshall then announced that "it was known to the 
club that two of the members at the last meeting had, con- 
trary to the constitution, introduced the subject of politics. 
* * * They had been fined a basket of champagne for the benefit 
of the club. They had submitted to the imposition like worthy 
members, and the champagne was now produced as a warning 
to evil-doers. It was so seldom the club indulged in such bever- 
ages they had no champagne glasses, and must therefore drink 
it in tumblers." 

Mr. Wickham begged leave to add, "As nobody objects to 
the tumblers, we will drink to the health and happiness of our 
two honorary members" (the parsons). 

Parson Buchanan responded that "for himself he had no 
objection to a little wine for his many infirmities," but he 
hoped those who indulged in tumblers at the table would not 
prove to be tumblers under the table. 

With these and other pleasantries "the table was set in a 
roar." 

After the feast the quoit-throwers left those who did not 
care to play to wear the time away with "jest and story and 
song." Judge Marshall challenged Parson Blair to make up 



32 JOHN MARSHALL 

the game, and each chose four partners. The match was 
played with spirit. Judge Marshall's play is thus described: 

"With his long arms hanging loosely by his side, a quoit in 
each hand, leaning slightly to the right, he carried his right 
hand and right foot to the rear; then, as he gave the quoit the 
impetus of his full strength, brought his leg up, throwing the 
force of the body upon it, struck the meg near the ground, 
driving it in at the bottom, so as to incline its head forward, 
his quoit being forced back two or three inches by the recoil. 
Without changing his position, he shifted the remaining quoit 
to his right hand, and fixing the impression of the meg on the 
optic nerve by his keen look, again threw, striking his first 
quoit and gliding his last directly over the head of the meg. 
There arose a shout of exulting merriment." 

The first clear picture of John Marshall, as the nineteen-year- 
old soldier, shows him playing this game. An entry in the 
diary of Thomas Green shows him still playing it — aged seven- 
ty-two: "July 28, 1827. Received a note from Mr. Stanard 
urging me to accept an invitation to the club. His gig was 
sent down and I took John Scott with me. It was a most 
agreeable party, but I was sorry to see the 'Old Chief pitch so 
feebly. He who two years ago was one of the best of the old 
club with the quoit is now very ordinary owing to his increasing 
feebleness." 

Chester Harding, the artist who painted the full length 
portrait of John Marshall in the Boston Athenaeum, has left 
an account of a visit to the Quoit Club in 1829, when the Chief 
Justice was seventy-four. Says he : 

"I watched for the coming of the old Chief. He soon ap- 
proached with his coat on his arm and his hat in his hand, 
which he was using as a fan. He walked directly up to a large 
bowl of mint julep, which had been prepared, and drank off a 
tumbler of the liquid, smacking his lips, and then turned to 
the company with a cheerful 'How are you, gentlemen?' * * * 
The game began with great animation. There were several 
ties ; and before long I saw the great Chief Justice of the United 



JOHNMARSHALL 33 

States down on his knees measuring the contested distance with 
a straw, with as much earnestness as if it had been a point 
of law ; and if he proved to be in the right, the woods would 
ring with his triumphant shout." 

This great old man with the heart of youth died in Phila- 
delphia July 6, 1835, and was brought home and buried in 
Shockoe Hill Cemetery. He had lived eighty years, sixty of 
which were spent in active service of his country. I have not 
attempted anything so futile as the crowding of eighty such 
years into a paper for an afternoon's reading, but only by a 
few sketchy pictures to aid your imaginations a little in making, 
for yourselves, a likeness of John Marshall. 



The benediction was pronounced by the Right Rev. Robert A. 
Gibson, and the house was then inspected by the visitors. 



34 JOHNMARSHALL 



THE HOUSE AND ITS CONTENTS. 



In the year 1909 the City of Richmond acquired as a site 
for a new High School the block at a corner of which stands 
the John Marshall House. Soon afterward plans for securing 
custody of this historic home and saving it from destruction 
were begun by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia 
Antiquities. These plans were brought to a happy conclusion 
on July 20, 191 1, when the Mayor of the city approved 

"AN ORDINANCE 

To provide for the dedication of the John Marshall Residence 
at the northivest corner of Ninth and Marshall Streets to 
the memory of Chief Justice Marshall, and to provide for 
its perpetual preservation by the Association for the 
Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. 

Be it ordained by the Council of the City of Richmond : 

I. That the house owned and occupied by the Honorable 
John Marshall while he presided as Chief Justice of the United 
States of America, located on the lot of land at the northwest 
corner of Marshall and Ninth Streets in the city of Richmond, 
Virginia, be and the same is hereby dedicated to the memory 
of its distinguished owner, and the same shall be so preserved 
as a memorial of his unsurpassed service to his State and to the 
Nation as soldier, statesman and jurist, and to that end, the 
City School Board of the city of Richmond, who now have 
under their care and custody the said building, be, and they 
are hereby requested and directed to turn over to the Asso- 
ciation for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, a corpora- 
tion created under an Act of the General Assembly of Virginia 



JOHN MARSHALL 35 

approved March 3. 1892, entitled, 'An Act incorporating the 
Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities/ (Acts 
1891-1892, pp. 103-105), the said building, together with free 
and unobstructed access to and from the said building by the 
said Association, its officers and agents, and other persons who 
may be authorized by the said Association to have access to 
and from said building, the same to be held in trust by the 
said Association for the sole purpose aforesaid and not to be 
liable to the debts or contracts of said Association, but the 
said Association shall not be entitled to the possession or 
occupancy of said building until they have, in writing, duly 
authorized in the mode prescribed by law, satisfactory to the 
City Attorney of the city of Richmond, executed and filed 
with the City Clerk an acceptance of the dedication hereby 
authorized and shall, in said writing, have agreed to assume 
the sacred duty of perpetually caring for and maintaining the 
said house in good repair, in which acceptance it shall also 
be provided that upon the dissolution of the said Association 
for any cause whatsoever, or, upon its ceasing to be a corpora- 
tion under the laws of the State of Virginia, or upon its failure 
properly to maintain and care for the said house, the custody 
and care of the same shall ipso facto revert to the city of 
Richmond. 

2. This ordinance shall be in force from its passage." 

The John Marshall House with or without a "collection" 
makes a strong appeal to the eye and interest. 

It is the expression of a great man's idea of a home and 
was his home for forty-six years, from its completion to his 
death, when it passed to his descendants, who owned it until 
it was bought by the city of Richmond. The quiet dignity of 
its exterior and the beauty of its interior ; its charming mantels, 
cornices, stairway and doors (with their fluted frames, arches 
and fan-lights and great brass locks) do credit to the taste of 
the time and place, as well as to the builder himself. 

The house is, indeed, its own chief attraction, but in the 
few months during which the Committee, with the untiring 



36 JOHNMARSHALL 

aid of the President of the Association has been at work, a 
good beginning of what promises to be a valuable collection 
has been made. 

Reception Hall. 

In Case Number i : 

Silver knee-buckles worn by Judge Marshall, Loaned by 
his great-granddaughter, Miss Nannie Norton. 

Mrs. Marshall's hair-bracelet and charm containing her 
husband's hair. Loaned by their great-granddaughter, Miss 
Agnes Marshall Taliaferro Maupin. 

Piece of blue brocade dress of Mrs. Mary Keith Marshall, 
the mother of the Chief Justice. Presented by Miss Bessie P. 
Johnson, a descendant. 

Autograph letter of Judge Marshall to his son Thomas. 
Presented by his great-granddaughter. Miss Lizzie Archer. 

Autograph letter of Judge Alarshall to his nephew, Thomas 
G. Marshall. Loaned by Mrs. E. A. Robinson. 

Judge Marshall's cribbage-board. Loaned by S. F. Chenery. 

Judge Marshall's tortoise-shell spectacles. Loaned by his 
great-granddaughter, Mrs. Harry Lee. 

Manuscript book containing notes made by Judge Marshall 
when a law student at William and Mary College and accounts 
when he was practicing law in Richmond. Loaned by his 
great-granddaughter, Mrs. John K. Mason. 

Bed-curtain and valance used in one of rooms in John 
Marshall House during Judge Marshall's lifetime. Presented 
by his granddaughter. Miss Lizzie Marshall. 

Judge Marshall's carpet-bag. Loaned by his granddaughter,. 
Mrs. Elliot M. Braxton. 

Damask table cloth bought by Judge Marshall in Paris. 
Loaned by his grandcaughter, Mrs. Elliot M. Braxton. 

In Case Number 2 : 

Judge Marshall's black satin robe of office as Chief Justice 
of the United States. Loaned by his granddaughter. Miss 
Anne L. Harvie. 



^ 



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JOHNMARSHALL 37 

In Case Number 3 (mahogany secretary of the period) : 

"Dodsley Poems. A collection of poems in six volumes by 
several hands." London, 1775. 

One volume, with autograph, presented by Judge Marshall's 
great-granddaughter, Mrs. Alexander Sands. 

Wood's Bible Dictionary. New York, 1813. Presented by 
a great-granddaughter. Miss A. M. Braxton. 

"Danver's Abridgement." London, 1725. Loaned by a 
great-great-grandson, Richard Henry Lee IV. 

"British Poets." Fifty volumes. Philadelphia, 1819. Two 
volumes presented by a great-granddaughter. Miss Mary 
Morris Ambler. 

"Graeca Majora." Boston, 183 1. Presented by a great- 
granddaughter. Miss Maria Newton Marshall. 

"Juvenal's Satires." Philadelphia, 1814 (with autograph). 
Presented by same. 

"The Evidences of Christianity." Daniel Wilson, A. M. 
Boston, 1830. With autograph. Presented by same. 

Bonnycastle's Geometry. Philadelphia, 1827. Presented by 
same. 

All of the above mentioned books were in Judge Marshall's 
library. The case also contains volumes I and II of "Marshall's 
Life of Washington," presented by Mr. Fielding Lewis Mar- 
shall, and the collected and bound addresses delivered in various 
cities of the United States on "Marshall Day," 190T, presented 
by Mr. Howard R. Bayne. Also a photograph of Leeds 
Church, Fauquier county, which many of the Marshalls and 
Amblers attended. Presented by Miss Anna M. Braxton, 
great-granddaughter of Judge Marshall. 

On small stand: 

Mahogany writing desk of John Brown, used while Secretary 
of Legation under Judge Marshall when he was Minister to 
France. Loaned by Mr, L. T. Christian. 

On mantel-piece : 

Hand-painted glass candle-shade. Loaned by Judge Mar- 
shall's great-granddaughter, Mrs. John K. Mason. 



38 JOHN MARSHALL 

On wall : 

Photograph of "Liberty Bell" which cracked while being 
tolled for Judge Marshall's funeral. Presented by Mr. Joseph 
Leidy. 

Photograph from portrait of Judge Marshall. Presented by 
Mrs. Sally Nelson Robins. 

"Indian Crown," a silver ornament given by the English 
Government to the Queen of Pamunkey, in 1677, as an acknow- 
ledgment of the superiority of her tribe over other Indians in 
Virginia. It remained in possession of the Pamunkey Indians 
until a short time before the Civil War, when it was given by 
them to a gentleman who had befriended them, from whose 
estate it was purchased by the Association for the Preservation 
of Virginia Antiquities. An exceedingly valuable and unique 
relic. 

In ante-room : 

Invalid chair of Benjamin Harrison, signer of the Declara- 
tion. Bequeathed to the Association for the Preservation of 
Virginia Antiquities by Dr. James B. McCaw. 

In the rear hall : 

Engraving of Judge Marshall. Presented by Mrs. John A. 
Coke. 

Photograph of Marshall statue in Washington. Presented 
by Clinedinst. 

In drawing-room : 

Eighteenth century furniture, purchased by the Association 
for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, including two 
original "John Marshall" chairs. 

One eighteenth century chair. Presented by Miss Frances 
B. Scott. 

Facsimile of portrait of Judge Marshall by St. Memin. Pur- 
chased by Association for the Preservation of Virginia An- 
tiquities. (Very beautiful.) 

Photograph of "St. Memin" of Thomas Marshall, eldest son 
of Judge Marshall. Presented by Mrs. Nelly Marshall Talia- 
ferro. 



JOHNMARSHALL 39 

Silhouette from "St. Memin" of Thomas Marshall. Pre- 
sented by Miss Maria Marshall. 

Oil portrait of Washington, by John Elder, after minature 
by Peale. Presented by Mrs. Charles B. Ball. 

Photograph of portrait of Judge Marshall's sister, Mrs. 
Colston. Presented by Mrs. Sally Nelson Robins. 

In dining-room : 

Eighteenth century furniture purchased by the Association 
for the Preservation of \'iirginia Antiquities, with a gift in 
memory of Mrs. Joseph Bryan. 

Engraving from Inman portrait of Judge Marshall. Pre- 
sented by Mrs. James Lyons. 

Photograph of "Oakhill" — Marshall home in Fauquier 
county. Presented by Homier and Clark. 

In china-press : 

China owned by Judge Marshall and used in this house. 
Presented by his granddaughters. Misses Anne and Emily 
Harvie, as follows : One large, blue Canton platter. One tureen, 
four cups and saucers, one chocolate pot, one pitcher, one egg- 
cup, one gravy stand, two dishes of quaint design — all from 
same set, with decoration of small flowers. One cake-stand, 
one fruit-basket of white and gold. 

One plate from set owned by Washington. Presented by 
Miss Nannie Randolph Heth. 

One Chinese punch bowl owned by Patrick Henry. Loaned 
by the Virginia Historical Society. 

In bed-chamber of Judge and Mrs. Marshall : 

Eighteenth century furniture, purchased by Association for 
the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. 

Candle-stand which held the light by which Judge Marshall 
read to his invalid wife. Presented by his granddaughters, 
Misses Anne and Emily Harvie. 

One chair owned by Judge Marshall. Presented by his 
great-grandson, Mr. John N. Marshall. 



p D - 1 1.5. 



THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE PRESERVATION 
OF VIRGINIA ANTIQUITIES was organized in 
1888 to "acquire, restore and preserve the ancient his- 
torical buildings and tombs in Virginia." 

It is supported mainly by the dues of its annual 
members, who come not only from Virginia, but from 
all parts of the country. 




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